


Try Not To Die Alone

by ZeroFizzy



Category: Buzzfeed The Try Guys (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Other, Zombies, hhhh i just wanted to write about try guys okay, no shipping really, none of the bois die btw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-07-29 15:57:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16267508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZeroFizzy/pseuds/ZeroFizzy
Summary: To celebrate a subscriber milestone, The Try Guys have just started filming a second part to one of their most popular videos, a video about surviving alone in the forest. It's going great, they've got plenty of good footage and they're all having a blast. That is, until night falls when Eugene turns up at Keith's camp with an injured leg and it becomes clear that they aren't the only people in the forest...





	1. It Begins...

Pain. Unbelievable, dizzying pain was all Eugene could feel as he stumbled through brambles and trees. He didn't know what that thing was, or why it's sickly hands had clawed a chunk out of his leg, but his head was spinning too much to wonder. Pain. Pain throbbed throughout him. He felt sick to his stomach. He didn't even know where he was going. To find the other guys.  
Yes, that was it. If he found them he'd be okay. He silently wondered if he was too late. Maybe that... thing had got them first. No. He shouldn't think about that. He couldn't think about that. He cursed as he looked down at his leg, blood was gushing out of the wound at an alarming rate. He'd never make it back to the other guys like this. He could never film another absurd video where he tried on underwear or wear some weird new item that was popular. He cursed himself for every time he'd insulted one of his friends, every joking remark, every bad word he'd said made a new rush of guilt rush over him.  
Delirious with pain, he stumbled over a branch and fell into a small clearing. His head hit the crisp ground with a dull thud. He could swear he heard a yell as he landed but, with the combined pain of his bleeding leg and newfound head injury, felt himself drifting slowly away from consciousness. 'I'm sorry for failing you guys' he thought to himself, as blackness swallowed up his vision entirely.  
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Keith sat in the long grass of the little clearing. His little clearing. The grass looked so natural and pristine when he arrived that he was convinced nobody had stepped foot in there before he did and, even if they had, he'd decided it was his now anyway. His phone buzzed in his pocket. Luckily, despite being miles away from civilisation, this part of the countryside had signal because of the small hotel nearby. He didn't care if phones 'ruined the immersion' like Eugene kept saying, Keith didn't feel like staying completely alone in the woods, challenge or not.  
He pulled the phone out from his jean pocket and saw a few new notifications. The first was a picture from Zach. He tapped it and was greeted by a full screen image of Zach standing in a lake, doing peace signs in front of a goose that looked ready for death. He laughed fondly at the photograph, his friend really was adorable even if he didn't like to admit it. The other notification was a missed call from... Eugene? That was weird. Eugene was the one who made them promise not to use their phones, why would he be calling him? Keith shrugged it off as a simple mistake and decided to take out his camera. He needed to film something before settling down for tonight and, as the sun had almost set beneath the trees, the timing seemed perfect.  
But, before he could aim his camera up at the now crimson sky, he heard noises in the bushes. It sounded like a mix of clumsy footsteps and laboured breathing. Keith was a sceptic at heart, a shaniac even. If he heard footsteps or creaking he wouldn't instantly think 'ghost!', but he couldn't deny that it spooked him a little. Brushing of his dread, he picked a piece of his firewood off the ground and gripped it threateningly as he waited for whatever it was to come closer. Whether this was an angry forest-dweller or a bear he at least wanted to look prepared if it tried anything.  
What he couldn't have suspected however was a dirty, bleeding Eugene to stumble through the bracken. His plaid shirt was slightly ripped and one of his shins was bleeding so hard it was surprising he could walk. "Eugene!" Keith yelled as he, without thinking, sprinted across the clearing to his friend. He collapsed at Keith's feet, hitting the ground hard. Keith quickly crouched down to check up on him. His chest was still rising and falling, but he sounded like he was getting weaker by the second. Keith needed to bandage up Eugene's leg quickly if he wanted him to make it but he couldn't leave him alone in a state like this. 'Who's nearby that might have a first aid kit... of course! Zach!' he realised suddenly.   
He shakily pulled his phone out of his pocket again and called Zach, who was luckily saved at the top of his contacts because of how much they talked. After a few seconds of dial tone, he heard a familiar voice on the other end.  
"Hey Keith! How's your fire going?" Zach said cheerfully down the phone. 'Wow, I really need to get on that' Keith thought to himself, but quickly pushed aside and focused on Eugene "Uh yeah, great. Listen, Zach, I need you to come here. Quickly." "What? Why?" Zach said, starting to sound concerned "You aren't injured are you? Please say you aren't injured"  
"No, I'm fine" Keith, impatience in his tone "It's Eugene. I'll explain when you get here, just grab that med kit and head to the clearing we passed earlier. We don't have much time." "Got it. On my way" The line went dead and Keith hoped that he was fast enough. 'If Eugene dies, it's my fault' he thought, crouching back down next to Eugene and keeping an eye on his breathing.  
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Zach stopped running for a second to catch his breath, the sudden excercise giving him a headache. From the phone call, he could tell something was seriously wrong at Keith's camp. He'd never heard his friend so serious, and as his imagination began to run away, Zach began to picture progressively more horrible fates for Eugene. He brushed them off, and began to pelt towards the clearing again, his concern for his friends keeping him going despite his exhaustion. After what felt like an eternity, he skidded to a halt in the clearing. In it's centre, Keith was crouched on the ground attempting to start a fire with an barely conscious Eugene laying down nearby. Zach crouched down, pulling Eugene into his lap and beginning to clean and bandage his leg wound, leaving Keith to set up the fire. Eugene would occasionally let out a grunt or twitch, but nothing coherent. Another wave of concern washed over Zach 'Eugene's always the calm one in situations like this, but now that's our job'.  
"Hey, Keith?" Zach finally spoke up, looking at Keith who put down his lighter "Yeah?" "Shouldn't we call Ned too? If there's something out there capable of this, surely it would be safer to stay together" Keith looked around slowly as if he was contemplating it for a second, before nodding "Good point. Ned's phone is probably off though, so we'll have to wake for Eugene to wake up before we look for him"   
"But... what if he gets hurt? We need to at least warn him to watch out" Zach protested, trying to shake off the mental image of Ned being torn apart by a creature of the unknown. "No. We can't leave Eugene alone like this and splitting up will get us nowhere. Be sensible, man."  
As if on cue, Eugene groaned and curled inwards slightly. After a few seconds, his eyes fluttered open and he gazed up at Zach. "Hey, dude. It's okay, you're alright just stay still and you'll be fine okay?" Zach said quickly, not wanting his friend to see how much he was freaking out. With a bit of effort, Zach managed to pull a groggy Eugene into a sitting position against a nearby tree. "Z...Zach? Where are we?" Eugene said hoarsely after a long silence, sounding dazed. Before Zach could respond, Keith looked away from his now slightly lit fire and spoke up "The middle of nowhere. You collapsed in my camp about 10 minutes ago. You alright?" "Y-Yeah..." Eugene replied, coughing a bit.  
"So" Keith began, fully turning away from the brightly burning fire and looking towards Eugene matter-of-factly "What did you do to your leg?" Before he could respond, Zach cut him off "Keith! He literally just woke up from a mini coma, give him some time to prepare-" "No." Eugene cut him off "It's alright Zach, I'm good" Wheezing a little, he sat up fully and gazed at the ground as if he was trying to remember something. He finally spoke up after a short while, his voice wavering like he was trying to stop himself from panicking "Okay. I remember but you aren't going to like it"  
Zach and Keith were both listening intently now "We... aren't the only people here" He began slowly "How do you mean?" Zach asked cautiously. Eugene sighed, shaking his head "My leg wasn't clawed at by a wild animal, or any kind of weird-ass plant. Something else did it. Something... undead"  
"This isn't Halloween Eugene. Quit with the scary stories and tell us what actually happened" Keith interjected, sounding exasperated. "I swear, I'm not lying! We need to get out of here, there's some weird shit in those woods" Eugene yelled, a pleading tone breaking through his outwardly calm demeanour "What so you expect us to just quit the video and run around in the dark because some weird animal clawed you? Zach was right, I should've given you longer to wake up" Keith grumbled. It came out much harsher than he had intended it to, but the chilly air and lack of sleep was taking it's toll on his patience.  
"I trust you" Zach suddenly spoke up calmly, looking up at Eugene sincerely "What? Come on Zach! Seriously?" Interjected Keith, but Zach ignored him "Zombies or not, we should at least look for Ned. We can't really continue the video like this, so why stay here anyway?"  
"Fine, whatever" Keith replied, sighing and kicking out the fire. Eugene let out a silent sigh of relief. He mouthed a 'thank you' to Zach, who just nodded in acknowledgement and grabbed the bags from the floor. The video could wait. Eugene didn't gt riled up easily, so whatever was going on must be serious. Zach was hoping that it was really just a hallucination or weird animal. He looked at Keith, his blue shirt dirty and his glasses slightly crooked. He looked at Eugene, limping significantly and shaking a little. He looked at himself, wearing a cat shirt and struggling with a bag. 'If there are zombies out there, somewhere, we'll be dead in 5 minutes flat' he thought to himself. He tried not to dwell on it too much. They just needed to grab Ned, find the crew and head home. What could go wrong?


	2. Before It's Too Late

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Try guys head off to find Ned's camp. They find something else too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for long wait my consistency is awful  
> also WOW SO MANY NICE COMMENTS ON CHAPTER ONE :D thanks so much for those! my fanfictions usually get no comments, so the feedback is really motivating to me <3

The walk to Ned's camp was eerily silent. Eugene had no idea where it was, and was beginning to question whether the others did either despite Zach reassuring him occasionally. Nobody said anything, and it seemed like the whole forest was silent apart from the sound of their footsteps and tired, heavy breathing. The anxiety from his earlier encounter with the... thing still clawed at his mind despite his efforts to ignore it.  
Maybe Keith was right. Maybe it was just some sort of pain-induced hallucination that stuck with him, or a weird vicious animal that his brain mistook for a zombie. He shook his head and tried to keep it out of his mind.  
There's no point on dwelling on it, right?  
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The silence in the forest went from awkward, to peaceful, to incredibly sinister. At least it did to Zach. The zombie-like creature Eugene described, and the genuine fear in his voice as he did, still lingered in Zach's mind and made him hyper-aware of every footstep and rustle. Well, it would if he heard any. The lack of sound felt unnatural, especially as they neared the place Ned said he'd be staying. Why was there no noise? Ned didn't know they'd stopped vlogging yet, and it wasn't awfully late so it wouldn't make sense if he was sleeping.  
Finally, after what felt like forever, they reached the lakeside spot they were looking for. Zach's relief was short lived forever, as what he saw made his stomach drop.  
The spot had a den, a lit fire, a backpack, supplies, but was missing one key thing; Ned. "Don't panic guys. He's probably just gone to the toilet or something, or maybe he went on a walk" Keith spoke up, attempting to calm the situation despite the repressed panic being clear in his tone. Zach just nodded, unconvinced. He looked to Eugene and saw his friend was looking at something away from the camp with a look of complete horror.  
He put a reassuring hand on his shoulder "Gene? What's wro-" Zach cut himself off "Oh my god..." there, in the grass Eugene was looking at, was blood.   
Not just a few spatters or drops but a long, bloody trail leading from the camp into the nearby trees. Were they too late? Could they have stopped this? Was that blood... Ned's?  
Zach felt sick to his stomach. What if the same thing that busted up Eugene's leg did this to Ned. There was only one way to find out. As if echoing Zach's thoughts aloud, Keith spoke up "Guys maybe we should... follow it" "What?! Are you insane, what if the thing is still there? What if we see something that we really don't want to see?" Eugene interjected "What? So you'd rather leave Ned to die then risk bumping into a weird animal" Keith snapped, matching Eugene's hostility. Eugene looked taken aback "No that's not what... I mean-" he stumbled out, but ended up just sighing in defeat.  
"Good" Keith said, calming down. He grabbed a large stick from the ground, holding in threateningly and beginning to follow the trail. Zach followed cautiously, hearing Eugene do the same.  
They'd only followed it for a few metres when they heard a sickening crunch, and a groan in an all-too-familiar voice up ahead. Ned's. "NED!" Eugene screeched, bolting forward at a speed that left both Keith and Zach dazed. Sprinting to catch up with him, they pushed brambles out of the way and eventually ended up at a lakeside greeted by a scene they could never have expected.  
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Eugene bolted to the origin of the scream, leaving his friends stunned behind him. He didn't care. He needed to get to Ned. Busting through a screen of brambles, he saw a scene that proved one fear wrong and the other one sickeningly right. Ned was stood aggressively above a strange, humanoid rotting creature that Eugene identified as the same thing that had attacked him earlier. Several more of the things were floating lifelessly in the lake nearby. Eugene let out a sigh of relief, Ned was mostly unscathed. The blood on the grass had come from the creatures, not from him. With one final kick from Ned, the last rotting creature let out a twitch and fell lifeless onto the ground.  
Ned looked up from the creature, as if he only just noticed he had company. "Eugene!" Ned yelled, running towards him "Oh thank God. I thought these things might have found yo- wait." he cut himself off "Eugene, what happened to your leg?"  
Eugene looked down at his leg. Even in the low light, blood was visibly soaking through the bandage on it. As if it was waiting to be acknowledged, his leg began to sting again, feeling as if it were on fire. "Ca-can't you guess?" he said through the pain. Ned was looking at him like a concerned father, but as he went to respond he was interrupted by Zach and Keith stumbling through the bushes behind them. Ned ran to them "Did they hurt you guys too? Are you alright?" "We're fine. Glad to see you are too" Zach said, sounding very relieved. Keith didn't respond though, he was staring with a look of horror at the several dead 'zombies' floating in the lake and littered on the ground.   
"Hey, Ned?" Eugene said, beginning to walk towards Ned and trying not to let the instant regret show on his face as the movement sent more pain up his leg "How did you fight all of those things on your own anyway?" "Yeah." Zach chimed in "It's not like you have practice or anything"  
"Eh. I guess I panicked and the adrenaline made me stronger?" Ned replied with a faraway look "Guys!" Keith interjected "Why does that matter? Why does any of that matter?! There are actual, literal zombies out there and we're just hanging around doing NOTHING". Everyone suddenly looked terrified, as if reality had just sunk in. Keith was right. They were in the middle of nowhere, they had barely enough signal to text each other, none of them really knew how to fight and they could be completely surrounded. For all they knew, these things could be all over the country by now. Eugene looked around a bit, even under the empty and starless sky he could see nothing but forests and lakes for what looked like forever. There was no obvious solution. They were trapped.


End file.
